What a difference a year makes!

I've mentioned that my brother's illness was the catalyst for the start of my journey to health. Here's an update.

Thanksgiving marked one year from when my oldest brother walked into the hospital with blood sugars over 800, pneumonia, and fever over 108 degrees for 5 hours. He was admitted in the ICU and put into a medically induced coma. My husband and I drove for almost 24 hours straight in hopes of seeing my brother alive one more time.

His entire body was shutting down: septic shock, blood born staph, congestive heart failure, MERSA, and organ shut down. He was on a ventilator and dialysis. 

The doctor gave him a 10-20% chance of survival. This was not recovery--the doctor didn't expect him to recover.  We left California not knowing if he would survive.

When they woke him up from the coma (it took four days!) he realized his best friend was really the love of his life (she had been there all along). They scheduled a tracheotomy--which meant an end to his singing. But the was able to fight through.

After 3 weeks in ICU and 45 days in the hospital, he was released. It's been a slow process, and he's had some difficulties along the way. But he not only survived, he is growing stronger every day.

The day Shawn went into the hospital, his daughter found out she was pregnant. She had had multiple miscarriages after the birth of her daughter 5 years before. Sadly, she miscarried before her Daddy left the ICU.

Today, just over a year after that fateful day....Makenzie Elizabeth was born. My brother not only survived, be he lived to welcome his new granddaughter. And my niece has been blessed with a daughter.